Rounded Crankshaft Pulley Bolt is OUT - See post with pictures below

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Changing water pump & timing belt on a 1999 4Runner, found that the crankshaft pulley bolt head is stripped...not completely but it looks bad. Socket fits on fairly tight, but before I put 200ft-lb+ of torque on it, wanted to see if anyone has run into this or check for ideas? I'm thinking about trying to put a weld or 2 between the socket and pulley washer before I try it?

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

The bolt flange is big and has a lot of spring pressure on the crank. I had one that was so tight a 600 ft/lb impact fell short. I had to end up taking a cut off wheel on a rotory tool and cut slits into the flange portion of the bolt. I think I put 4 slits coming off of each cornor. This releaved the spring tension on the face of the bolt and it cam right off with a 1/2 socket. The trick is not to nik the pulley in any way or it will throw your balance off.

Welding a bigger nut on the striped one is not a bad idea either...if it's that far gone. Get some good welds on there because that is a lot of torque to be prying on.

Either way your going to need a new bolt, so maybe a combination of the two will work.

 

On my runner crank bolt, theres a 19mm sockets welded on there from the PO. Works good for me. Haha

 

Thanks snobdds! Went ahead and tried it with the 19mm, but she's stripped. So I think I'll try your suggestion and do both...since I'm not a very good welder

 

I would guess you mean the bolt head is rounded off?

Irwin makes these great sockets for removing rounded bolts only 3/8" drive but I have put on 3/8" to 1/2" adapters and gotten things broke loose.:jessica:

 

OP, you are using some sort of crank holding tool to hold the crank when attempting remove the bolt, yes? Especially important if you have an auto tranny.

 

yep...rounded off (not stripped). I'll check out the Irwin sockets. looked at the Sears turbo type..but was concerned with the amount of torque + it was around $50.

I'm thinking I may try a holesaw to cut the flange tension...just a little nervous about cutting into the pulley/balancer.

Thx for the suggestion

 

Yes..made a crank holding tool, it looks pretty bad, but I think it will do the job..it held when I gave the mostly rounded bolt head a try...

Thx

 

This is an alternate method for removing a rounded, stuck crankshaft pulley bolt in a 1999 4Runner with a 5VZ-FE. The engine is in the car. The radiator is out, but the AC condenser is in.

Found the 19mm crankshaft pulley bolt head mostly rounded. Built a pulley holding tool & tried it, but the 19mm socket spun & rounded the bolt head more. As snobdds recommended above, needed to relieve the bolt flange spring tension.

On the 5VZ-FE you have an access of about 2" diameter to the recessed bolt and flange. I tried a rotary tool with cut off tool but was having difficulty and knew I was probably going to trash the pulley/balancer with this method.

Decided to use a 1-1/8" hole saw without a pilot bit. You could probably use a pilot bit, but I didn't want to risk damaging the bolt & the 1-1/8"hole saw fits nicely around the 19mm bolt head. Once you get the initial groove started it stays pretty much in place.

Had to use a 3/8" pneumatic drill because of the limited space. It's a pretty slow process. Used 2 hole saws and some drill bits. When the holesaw would seem to stop cutting effectively, I'd take a drill bit & drill some holes in the groove.

When the groove was somewhere between 1/16 - 1/8" I decided to try a 3/8" drive impact grade damaged bolt remover. Heated up the bolt head with a blow torch & pounded the socket on. Broke a ratchet using a cheater bar and then broke a 3/8" to 1/2" converter. Took off the socket and used the holesaws & drill bits to make the cut deeper. The bolt really has a 2 part flange (see photo) for a total of about 1/4".

Was nervous about the rounded bolt head, so went almost all the way through the flange. The bolt came out pretty easy with a 1/2" drive socket and impact wrench. Below are some photos.

 

Damnn, I have tried everything I can think of other than this or welding a nut or socket to the rounded crank bolt..

 

Anybody ever try the dull chisel and 3 pound hammer method? I have had 100% success on every other stubborn bolt with a large flange washer surface but never had the opportunity to try the crank bolt.

 

So I rounded my crank pulley bolt on a 22re and I’m about to lose my ˟˟˟˟. How far in with the hole saw do you recommend me going ? And was it a lot easier when you went throught that bolt.?

 

Its been a few years, but I think it was a 1/4" (might be indicated in the original post). I replace the bolt/flange with a new one. I remember being very happy it work so well which is why I wanted to post it for others. Good louck!

 

yes thank you and without you I wouldn’t have had the balls to even attempt. But you’re living proo it may work so why not try anyway. I’ve used the 11/8 you recommended and it’s going through but how will I know if I’ve released pressure against the pulley ? How much Deeper do I need to go? And yeah I was getting a lot of head shakes when I brought this idea up so this has got to work I tried everything 🤦🏻‍♂️

 

UncleT, because it was a few years ago, about the best information I can give you is from the original post. My main goal was to get it off without damaging the balancer & it worked well for me. This is a couple days after your post so hopefully it worked for you. If you're still working on it, I'd just suggest to go slow and try not to get frustrated, if you get over a 1/4"-3/8" deep on the groove, I'd find the Specifications on the flange to see see how deep you can go. You're not going to reuse it anyway. You'll probably have to use damaged bolt remover socket with impact as indicated below unless you try to weld something on the bolt, but for me once the pressure was relieved it came off pretty easy from what I remember. Good luck!

Had to use a 3/8" pneumatic drill because of the limited space. It's a pretty slow process. Used 2 hole saws and some drill bits. When the holesaw would seem to stop cutting effectively, I'd take a drill bit & drill some holes in the groove.

When the groove was somewhere between 1/16 - 1/8" I decided to try a 3/8" drive impact grade damaged bolt remover. Heated up the bolt head with a blow torch & pounded the socket on. Broke a ratchet using a cheater bar and then broke a 3/8" to 1/2" converter. Took off the socket and used the holesaws & drill bits to make the cut deeper. The bolt really has a 2 part flange (see photo) for a total of about 1/4".

Was nervous about the rounded bolt head, so went almost all the way through the flange. The bolt came out pretty easy with a 1/2" drive socket and impact wrench. Below are some photos.

 

UncleT, because it was a few years ago, about the best information I can give you is from the original post. My main goal was to get it off without damaging the balancer & it worked well for me. This is a couple days after your post so hopefully it worked for you. If you're still working on it, I'd just suggest to go slow and try not to get frustrated, if you get over a 1/4"-3/8" deep on the groove, I'd find the Specifications on the flange to see see how deep you can go. You're not going to reuse it anyway. You'll probably have to use damaged bolt remover socket with impact as indicated below unless you try to weld something on the bolt, but for me once the pressure was relieved it came off pretty easy from what I remember. Good luck!

Had to use a 3/8" pneumatic drill because of the limited space. It's a pretty slow process. Used 2 hole saws and some drill bits. When the holesaw would seem to stop cutting effectively, I'd take a drill bit & drill some holes in the groove.

When the groove was somewhere between 1/16 - 1/8" I decided to try a 3/8" drive impact grade damaged bolt remover. Heated up the bolt head with a blow torch & pounded the socket on. Broke a ratchet using a cheater bar and then broke a 3/8" to 1/2" converter. Took off the socket and used the holesaws & drill bits to make the cut deeper. The bolt really has a 2 part flange (see photo) for a total of about 1/4".

Was nervous about the rounded bolt head, so went almost all the way through the flange. The bolt came out pretty easy with a 1/2" drive socket and impact wrench. Below are some photos.

 

thanks man for answering back and yes found out that the hole saw gets dull sitting there for a while I’m gonna get another hole saw hopefully go a bit deeper cause I’m more so near the 1/16 in and the hole saw keeps frogging out so I’m gonna try and go a bit more in a weld a socket onto that hoe.